Hinge and method of making parts therefor



Nov. 3, 1942. w. J. TIERNEY 3 5 9 HINGE AND METHOIj OF MAKINGI PARTSTHEREFOR Filed Jan. 9, 1941 Z'Sheetsheet 1 Nov. 3, 1942. w. J. TIERNEY2,301,095 HINGE AND METHOD OF MAKING PARTS THEREFOR Filed Jan. 9, 1941 2Sheets-Sheet 2 j J9 J3 JJ 12 J ,5'0 )2? 1 Ill:IIIILZIZIIZI:11:11?

a %m4z Patented Nov. 3, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HINGE ANDMETHOD OF MAKING PARTS THEREFOR William J. Tierney, Rockford, Ill.,assignor to The Atwood Vacuum Machine Company, Rockford,

a copartnership composed of Seth B.

7 Claims.

This invention relates to hinges and is particularly concerned with animproved method of making hinge members, the present method being animprovement upon that disclosed in my copending application Serial No.317,283, filed February 5, 1940, which is now Patent No. 2,235,- 241,dated March 18, 1941, and has been reissued as Re. 21,876, dated August12, 1941.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a hinge member whichis not only of varying width and thickness, that is, wider and thinnerin the attaching portion and narrower and thicker in the pintle endportion and of varying width and thickness at intermediate points buthas the pintle receiving extremity of slightly greater width than therest of the pintle end portion to form protruding bearing portions onopposed edges of the inner hinge member to space the same from th topand bottom walls of the cooperating U-sha-ped sheet metal outer hingemember.

These inner hinge members, in accordance with my invention, are producedfrom bar stock of uniform width and thickness by passing the samebetween rolls, one with a plain periphery and the other with acam-shaped periphery conformed to give the hinge bianks the desiredthicknesses at the various points along the length thereof, the strip ofbar stock being out after rolling to provide a number of blanks whichare then stamped between dies to bend the same longitudinally to thedesired shape after which the blanks are coin pressed between other diesin the plane of the blanks to true them up, the pintlereceivingextremity being formed in this final coin-press operation to provide thedesired em bossed bearing surfaces of limited area on the opposed edgesof the hinge members.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in whichFigures 1 and 2 are sections in planes at right angles to one anotherillustrating a hinge of the type using the hook-shaped member with whichthe present method of manufacture is particularly concerned;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the bar stock used in theproduction of these hinge members;

Fig. 4 shows the same portion of the bar stock after the initial rollingand forming operation illustrated in Fig. 5, the latter showing the tworolls with a portion of the bar therebetween, and

Figs. 6 and '7 are views illustrating the coinpress operation, Fig. 7being a plan view showing the blank in the lower die recess, and Fig. 6being a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 7 showing the upper and lowerdies.

Th same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughoutthe views.

Referring briefly to Figs. 1 and 2, 8 designates a portion of the bodyand 9 a portion of the door of an automobile. The hinge shown comprisesan outer U-shaped member 10 and an inner hook-shaped member H mounted onthe body and door, respectively. The U-shaped outer member is formedfrom sheet metal providing upper and lower substantially horizontalwalls 12 and I3 having end portions [4 and I5 offset inwardly toward oneanother in substantially hori- Zontal parallel relation for bearingengagement with the opposite ends of the pintle receiving end portion 16of the hook-shaped inner member ll. 11 is a pintle entered inregistering holes I8 and 19 in the walls 14 and I5 and having a workingfit in the pintle hole 29 provided in the end portion [6 of the hookmember H. The hinge member it! has flanges 21 and 22 providing attachingportions for securing the same to the body pillar, a portion of which isshown at 23. 24 is a sheet metal face plate suitably welded to theattaching portions 2| and 22 and cut away as at 25 to provide operatingclearance'for the hook member II. The latter has an offset portion 26next to its attaching end portion 2'! where it extends through thecut-out portion 25 of the face plat 24 whereby to provide operatingclearances for the hook end 28 of the hinge member H when the doorcloses. The hook end 28 is next to the offset portion 26 and its radius29 is long enough so that the portion 38 clears the body pillar in theopening of the door. The pintle end portion 31 on the other half of thehook end 28 is approximately at right angles to the attaching portion 21and the door 9 is accordingly free to swing through approximately 90from closed to open position. Now, it can easily be seen by inspectionof the hinge member H in Fig. 1 that it is desirable to have theattaching portion 27 wide and of relatively thick section so as toprovide proportionately broader surface engagement with the door towhich it is secured. On th other hand, it is desirable to have thepintle end portion 31 of narrower and thicker section, the thickenedsection permitting provision of a pintle bearing hole 29 of large enoughdiameter without reducing the wall thickness around th bearing hole toomuch. A section between the attaching portion 21 and the pintle endportion 3| is preferably of gradually increasing thickness outwardly andgradually increasing width inwardly as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2.However, it can also be seen by inspection of Fig. 2 that it isdesirable to have the extremity it of the hinge member H a little widerthan the rest of the pintle end portion 31 so as to provide embossedbearing surfaces 32 and 33 of limited area on the top and bottom of thispintle-receiving extremity and accordingly provide ample operatingclearances for the upper and lower edges of the hinge member I I withrespect to the walls l4 and i5 of the hinge member Hi.

Referring now to Figs. 3-5, 34 designates the steel bar stock from whichblanks B are produced by rolling and forming between rollers 35 and 36in the manner shown in Fig. 5. The roller 36 has a smooth cylindricalperiphery 3'! but the periphery 38 of the roller 35 is profiled orcamshaped to conform to the shape of the blanks to be produced, theperiphery 33 having cam surfaces for the formation of five blanks ineach turn. The bar 3 1 has a cross-section approximately the same as thepintle end portion 3| of the blank. The attaching end portion 21 of theblank, however, is much thinner and wider and is given that form bypressure between the rollers, these being operated at the same speed inthe direction of the arrows and being supported in fixed spacedrelation. The intermediate portions of the blanks between the ends 21and 3! are of varying width and thickness, the blank decreasing in widthbut increasing in thickness gradually from the attaching end portion 21toward the pintle end portion 3| as previously indicated and as alsoappears from an inspection of Fig. 4-.

This rolling and forming operation is done hot.

The blanks are cut from the bar by shearing the same transversely at thepoints 39. In some instances the attaching end portions 21 will requiremilling oif along the longitudinal edges to square these up and alsotrimmed down to the desired width to fit the hinge seats on the door.Then, too, the extremities of the end portions 2! will ordinarily bemilled off square and so as to trim the blank down to the desiredlength. These trimming operations are simple and inexpensive. The blankprior to the final coin-press operation shown in Figs. 6 and 7 fortruing up and reshaping the blank in accordance with my invention isbent transversely between dies to the hook shape shown in Figs. 1 and 7,the dies bending the pintle end portion 3| substantially at right anglesto the attaching end portion 2! and also from the offset bend 26therein.

The dies 4:! and 4| shown in Figs. 6 and 7 are coining dies and therecesses 42 and 43 are accurately formed so that when the dies arebrought together under heavy pressure with the blank B insertedtherebetween the blank is trued up and either straightened if bentslightly out of line, where a hinge member having the opposite ends on aline is desired as is true of the one shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or, whereit is desired to have the pintle end portion 3| and, in fact, thecomplete hook end portion 28 bent into vertically offset relation withrespect to the attaching end portion 21, this bending can be taken careof efficiently in this same operation. The coin-pressing results in agreatly hardened surface on the upper and lower longitudinal edges ofthe blank which means added life for the hinge member inasmuch as it isthere that the bearing surfaces are provided at 32 and 33. The surfaces32 and 33 in this coin-press operation are embossed in relation to therest of the upper and lower longitudinal edges as clearly appears inFig. 6.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn with a view to covering all legitimate modifications andadaptations.

I claim:

1. The method of making inner hinge members for hinges of the classdescribed which consists in subjecting a bar of rectangularcross-section to a combination rolling and forming operation betweenrollers, whereby to form from a single bar a plurality of connectedblank portions, each of increased width and decreased thickness at oneend and intermediate thicknesses and widths intermediate the ends andsubstantially the original width and thickness of the bar at the otherend, then cutting the blanks from the bar, then subjecting at least saidlast named end portion to pressure between dies to true up the edges ofthis portion of the blank and size the same to width so as to form atthe extreme end thereof projecting bearing portions of limited area onopposed edges thereof, and finally drilling a pintle hole joining theapproximate centers of said bearing portions.

2. The method of making inner hinge members for hinges of the classdescribed which consists in subjecting a bar of rectangularcross-section to a combination rolling and forming operation betweenrollers, whereby to form from a single bar a plurality of connectedblank portions, each of increased width and decreased thickness at oneend and intermediate thicknesses and widths intermediate the ends andsubstantially the original width and thickness of the bar at the otherend, then cutting the blanks from the bar, then subjecting all but thefirst named end portion to pressure between dies to true up the edgesand the general shape of this portion of the blank and at the same timereduce the width thereof except for a short length at the extreme endthereof so as to produce projecting bearing portions on opposed edges atsaid extremity, and finally drilling a pintle hole in said extremityjoining the approximate centers of said bearing portions.

3. As an article of manufacture, an inner hookshaped hinge member for aconcealed hinge for a vehicle door formed from a single elongated pieceof bar stock of rectangular section, the said hinge member comprising anattaching shank portion at one end thereof and a pintle receivingportion at the other end thereof, said pintle receiving portion being ofrelatively thick and narrow section corresponding substantially to thesection of the original bar stock and the attaching end portion beingformed to relatively thin and wide section and the intermediate portionof said member being formed to decreasing width and increasing thicknessfrom the attaching portion toward the pintle receiving portion, thepintle receiving portion being formed to reduced width an appreciableportion of the length thereof from a point near the extremity thereof soas to leave projecting bearing portions of limited area on opposed edgesof said extremity, and there being a pintle hole provided in saidextremity joining the approximate centers of said bearing portions.

4. For a concealed hinge of the character described comprising aU-ohaped sheet metal outer part adapted to receive a hook-shaped innermember and a pintle fixedly secured in the outer part and pivotallymounting the inner member thereon, said outer part having spaced top andbottom walls joined by a substantially vertical wall, and outwardlyextending attaching flanges at the free ends of said top and bottomwalls, a hook-shaped inner hinge member, the pivotal extremity only ofwhich is formed to provide substantially coaxially projecting bearingportions on opposededges of limited area on their exposed outer ends forbearing engagement with the inner sides of said top and bottom walls,said hook-shaped inner hinge member having a pintle opening providedtherein joining the approximate centers of said bearing portions, theaforesaid pintle extending through said hole.

5. As an article of manufacture, a rolled hinge member for a vehicledoor hinge formed from a single elongated piece of bar stock having thegrain running lengthwise, the said hinge member comprising an attachingshank portion at one end thereof and a pintle receiving portion at theother end thereof, the pintle receiving portion being of relativelythick and narrow rectangular section, and the attaching end portionbeing formed to relatively thin and wide rectangular section so as tocompact the grain transversely of said portion, the intermediate portionof said member being formed to decreasing width and increasing thicknessfrom the attaching portion toward the pintle receiving portion so as tocompact the grain transversely of said intermediate portion, at leastthe pintle end portion having the grain compacted edgewise of saidportion by pressure between dies from a point near the extremity thereofso as to leave projecting bearing portions of limited area on opposededges of said extremity.

6. As an article of manufacture, a rolled hinge member for a vehicledoor hinge formed from a single elongated piece of bar stock ofrectangular section having the grain running lengthwise, the said hingemember comprising an attaching receiving portion at the other endthereof, the pintle receiving portion being of relatively thick andnarrow rectangular section corresponding substantially to the section ofthe original bar stock, and the attaching end portion being formed torelatively thin and wide rectangular section so as to compact the graintransversely of said portion, the intermediate portion of said memberbeing formed to decreasing width and increasing thickness from theattaching portion toward the pintle receiving portion so as to compactthe grain transversely of said intermediate portion, at least the pintleend portion having the grain compacted edgewise of said portion bypressure beshank portion at one end thereof and a pintle tween dies froma point near the extremity thereof so as to leave projecting bearingportions of limited area on opposed edges of said extremity.

'7. The method of making hinge members which consists in subjecting abar of rectangular crosssection to a combination rolling and formingoperation between rollers, whereby to form from a single bar a pluralityof connected blank portions having the grain running lengthwise of allof said blank portions, each blank portion as a result of the rollingoperation having increased width and decreased thickness at one end andintermediate thicknesses and widths intermediate the ends andsubstantially the original width and thickness of the bar at the otherend, then cutting the blanks from the bar, then subjecting at least thepintle end portion to pressure applied thereto in an edgewise positionbetween dies to true up the edges of this portion of the blank but leavesubstantially coaxially projecting bearing portions of limited area onopposed edges, and drilling a pintle hole crosswise of the last namedend portion joining the approximate centers of said bearing portions.

WILLIAM J. 'IIERNEY.

